Sticks, Acorns and dead grass

[salty]

I just dont understand why our puppy is obsessed with eating sticks, acorns, leaves, dead grass, and cannot walk by a single bush without chewing on it's pine needles or branches. Is this just the way of a golden retriever or is our Moose just that hungry??? I am starting to feel bad for yelling at him and saying no all the time when it's time to go outside. :(

[MegM76]

Definitely normal for, not only a golden puppy, but any puppy! Instead of yelling, you might want to try carrying some treats in your pocket when you're ouside, and tell him something along the lines of "hurry up, lets go" in a happy voice when he starts to go for a leaf. Show him and give him the treat the instant he responds to you. Eventually though, he will likely grow out of it. Cooper is about 5 months old...he used to be obsessed with everything on the ground, but not so much any more.

[salty]

I try to find bigger sticks he can chew instead of the dry leaves. What kind of treats are ok for a puppy?? we have been giving him old mother hubbard cookies but they are too hard for him to chew

[GoldenFrost]

LOL Tara is 7 and still does that. Every thing seems to be eatable to her.

Vet told us if it is not moldy it shouldn't hurt her

[MegM76]

You can find lots of soft, jerky-type treats at most retail pet stores. I like to use TINY pieces of hot dogs or cheese when training Cooper. Just use very small pieces of treats to make sure you don't overdo it.

[Westin]

Oh I remember that phase. For the longest time I think Westin thought his name was "NO". :laugh2

Your pup will most likely grow out of it. It's just interesting for him. Maybe he likes the crunchiness of the leaves. We always tried to walk Westin in the middle of the street or driveway b/c there is less "stuff" for him to pick up in the middle.

Good luck!

[box4dog]

Boy, I'm glad to see this tread and learn that others experience this. I have been frustrated trying to protect Bisbee from eating this dibris on the ground but have sort of resigned to accepting it's impossible to prevent her from eating these things because they're EVERYWHERE.
It's good to hear others have not had anything bad happen from their doing this.

[angenbear]

those puparooni are good, soft and easy to chew. the mother hubburn do u get the very small pieces or are they big?

[FlyPhrogs]

....let's see, Asher has now destroyed a small crepe myrtle I had, and has found the area close by it a great place to dig. Today was the first "known" dig day. He is 10 weeks today and loves to spend time in the back yard exploring. His favorite place though is walks in the desert with hubby.
Heather

[FlyPhrogs]

...and we can't seem to get all the leaves up, they KEEP falling, and he thinks they were put there especially for him! It's hard to keep him focused on pottying when there are so many leaves out there for him to enjoy.

[hgatesy]

Parker now has an annoying hobby.
We, as well as our neighbors have a tendency to wait to mow our yards until the grass is rather long. So when we both finally mow the mower produces giant clumps of grass all through the yard. Well... Parker LOVES this. It's like Christmas that day!! He'll pounce on the giant clumps of grass... chew on them... and then eat them! I thought at first he was just chewing on them, however upon watching him closely I noticed he actually spits very little of the clump out. We're working on "leave it" and he has this command down pat, except when it comes to the grass. It's like he blocks out my voice when he sees those clumps. I could yell "leave it" at the top of my lungs and all he hears is "eat the grass.. eat the grass!" I swear he thinks he's a goat. I've never seen a dog do this before.

I'm just wondering if this much grass is good for him? He's eating fine, and pooping fine. I'm assuming since both of these are fine it's not causing him too many problems. Any advice??

[salty]

That is funny that you mention the long grass clippings. Our Moose is now 9 months and is about 82 pounds with barely no fat. I cannot belive how much grass and sticks he will eat like it is no big deal. It's actually unbelievable the size of the sticks he just chews up like they are nothing. I have given up on telling him not to eat the grass.. The only problem is how he will pull clumps out of the ground and then dig a hole to china if left unattended outside. Everyone say's "Oh your dog must have an upset stomach"

I say that is a bunch of BS because there is no way he could have a belly ache every day of his life

[Chillers]

Our Moose is now 9 months and is about 82 pounds with barely no fat.

He really is a moose! Tucker's nine months old too and weighs 65lbs...and everybody thinks he's big!! :p

Tucker likes to eat grass clippings also....and when dandilions were in season, he'd go out and crop the heads off of them, and he was grazing...never got sick either. I think some dogs like vegetation more than others. At least that's what I'm telling myself! :rolleyes:

[salty]

His father was rather large! He is living up to his potential and name!

[Chris]

This is sooo funny. :laugh2 I just thought my 2 were cows in their last lives. :rolleyes: It dosn't matter if they just ate either they LOVE to graze in the yard. Maddie is 3 and still does so. I have yet to have either of them get sick from it. Must just be part of being a dog.. :woofpup

paw Chris :reddogx

[all for goldens]

Glad to hear this is normal. Little by little I have stopped freaking out about everything she puts in her mouth. I am sure you all understand the feeling of being tired of digging everything out of their mouths. Now if I could only stop her from checking out the deer poop!!

Salty..thank you..for saying that you think Moose eats grass because he is sick is BS. I am sooooo tired of hearing this. If my dog was that sick, we would be in big trouble.

Maybe all of our dogs were cows in a past life. :cool:

[amy in ca]

Burnzee has taken to munching on the mint patch. Actually it's not such a bad thing as it works wonders on his breath. banana

[salty]

once our dog gets a clump in his mouth and you try to take it he act's like it's a big game of "come and see if you can catch me".

He likes it..

He is on interceptor for any parasites..

so, no sence in getting all nuts about it.

[Rustysmom]

Rusty eats or tries to eat anything that catches his eye. I have even caught him stealing wood from the wood pile. He has mashed all my flower gardens to a pulp. I see him pulling grass out of the ground all the time roots and all :confused: Our biggest problem now is the digging :confused:

[LoveMyGoldenNamedDuke]

I have had Shelties all of my life. We have a 4 year old Sheltie named Scarlett Rose. We have a new addition to our family and that is Duke he is our first Golden Retriever who is 3 1/2 months old now. Scarlett has never picked up gross things like Duke does. I am to a point now where I am scared to stick my fingers in his mouth to see what he has because a few weeks ago I noticed something rumbling around in his mouth and making a click noise. I put my fingers in like a good :angel1 Mommy to sweep it out and it was 3 snails :eek: . I was totally disgusted. Now I am gun shy to see what he has in his mouth. I am not fond of touching snails. If there is a snail on the ground you can bet that Duke is going to get it and as many others as he can and store them in his cheeks. I do not know if he actually eats them. I hope snails are not bad for him :204 .

Dukes Mom :dogbark